The word Bootcamp for most conjures up images of sweaty, intense early morning workout sessions which make you want to cry or puke, or both, but leave you feeling great…in a few weeks. These types of boot camps have indeed gone virtual and you can now be tortured in the comfort of your own home… I want to talk about the intensive learning type of Bootcamp; the type that doesn’t involve planking and workout clothes, although let’s face it, if you are working from home you are probably wearing yoga or tracksuit pants. No, I’m referring to educational Bootcamps. Weekly events where for an hour or 2 you learn; could be for work, could be for fun – I’m here to tell you about how you can take your weekly/monthly training/learning sessions online, using a virtual platform.
We all know learning is important. It’s important that we stay updated with new trends, research, policies or products in our chosen fields. Pre-pandemic this could have taken place in the workplace or at an alternate venue, and happened every couple of months, either on a weekly basis or for a few days in a row, until the subject matter was complete; maybe there was a survey/test that would need to be completed afterwards and certificates to be handed out. Not only were these training sessions super important for educational purposes, but also for the social aspect, which, with social distancing and work from home orders still in place for many, social interaction of the virtual variety is so important. As with any virtual event or hybrid event, a virtual Bootcamp has its advantages; such as a bigger and global attendee reach. The on-demand functionality means that if something urgent comes up, an attendee can still benefit from the Bootcamp, just the next day. So how do you create a successful virtual learning experience? Simple, by creating a virtual Bootcamp.
The Bootcamp would be made up of weekly events with sessions that cover the material and could end off with networking functions so that you still have (virtual) face to face social interaction. Splitting the material over a few weeks or two or three Bootcamp sessions/days means you get to avoid screen fatigue (try keeping sessions as short as possible as well to avoid this), and you get to cover a lot of material over that time. The great part about a virtual Bootcamp is that if someone can’t make it that day, they can watch on-demand later. Having the on-demand option is also great for those of us who like to revisit the information to make sure we fully understand it. Virtual Bootcamps are also super easy to take hybrid.
How do I keep attendees interested and engaged while they learn, is something you may be wondering.
The best way would be with gamification. This is a word that is thrown around a lot in the virtual space, but there’s a reason for that – gamification makes virtual events fun and keeps them engaging. Both things you want with your virtual Bootcamp. An example of using gamification would be that every time an attendee participates in the Bootcamp, be it clicking into a session, asking a question or taking part in a live poll, the attendee receives points. This is a fun way to keep people actively engaging in the Bootcamp, rather than sitting passively. You can track attendance for the Bootcamp with a powerful analytics dashboard, this is especially important if CPD/CME certificates need to be issued. You can track attendance in real-time across the timeline to see how many people are in which sessions. You can view attendance numbers for every session and function, and using our geolocation tool you can see from where people attended and how the numbers rise and fall throughout the whole Bootcamp.
Hosting a virtual Bootcamp is a great and powerful educational tool. They are a fun and innovative way to keep people updated and informed and interacting with each other. A Bootcamp allows you to cover a lot of material, or a small amount of material in-depth. A Bootcamp can be used to replace the in-person training sessions or can be a weekly hybrid event. Either way, it has never been easier to move your learning online, than it is with us.